Alan Pedersen

Alan Pedersen has been performing for more than 25 years. An accomplished singer and award winning songwriter, he spent several years writing and recording music in Nashville, Tennessee. Alan has had several songs recorded by other artists. His writing has not been limited to music, he has written commercials, radio news copy, and collaborations for television shows and other comedy projects. His performing credits are numerous as well. Alan has worked as an actor, stand-up comedian, keynote speaker/emcee, and in radio as a network news and sports reporter for Westwood One Communications. Currently living in Englewood, Colorado, Alan is the father of four boys and an angel. In August of 2001 Alan’s life took a tragic turn, his 18-year-old and only daughter Ashley was killed in an automobile accident. This tragedy would take his life in a direction he never imagined. Struggling for months to find answers and trying to cope with tremendous pain and anger, he entered a grief program in Denver, Colorado and began attending monthly meetings of a support organization (The Compassionate Friends.) Alan credits these organizations with saving his life and inspiring him to honor his daughter’s life by helping others. In July of 2003, Alan released a CD of songs he had written about his walk through the valley of grief, titled Ashley’s Songbook. In 2006, he released a follow up CD titled “A Little Farther Down The Road.” Alan now helps others by sharing his story of faith and hope. His message is simple; grief and loss offer the opportunity for ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things. He believes that healing begins when we once again give of ourselves by helping others. Alan speaks and plays his music for churches and grief organizations around the country. In 2008 Alan will release his third CD of original music about the journey bereaved families must walk. Alan has performed at National Conferences for The Compassionate Friends, Bereaved Parents of the USA, and the World Gathering on Bereavement. Alan will travel and speak 120 times in 2008 for local chapters of TCF, BP-USA, and other grief organizations dedicated to helping families grieving the loss of a child. In February of 2008 Alan released his third CD “More Songs From the Journey” which features “Celebrate the Children” which is the anthem of his concerts and events this year. To learn more about Alan and to get his tour schedule, go to: www.everashleymusic.com. Alan appeared on the radio show Healing the Grieving Heart to discuss “Learning to Live Again After Loss.” To hear his interview with Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley, click on the following link: www.voiceamericapd.com/health/010157/horsley033006.mp3 Alan appeared a second time on the radio show Healing the Grieving Heart to discuss, “The Holidays, Helpful or Hurtful?” to hear his interview with Dr. Gloria and Dr. Heidi Horsley, click on the following link: www.voiceamericapd.com/health/010157/horsley122508.mp3

Articles:

Friends and Death

The Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends, Alan Pedersen, joins the Grief Relief show with Dr. Gloria Horsley. Dr. Darcie Sims joins the show to talk about how you lose and gain friends when you lose a loved one. Pedersen travels the world, sharing stories about his healing process from losing his daughter. He’s also a performer, and is featured in this episode singing “A Little Further Down the Road.” Dr. Sims also travels to share stories about her loss, as part of the Angels of the USA Program. Your relationships with friends change over time anyway, and they can […]

Holiday Candle Lighting and Cooking

The Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends, Alan Pedersen, joins Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley during a special holiday edition of The Open to Hope show. He offers advice for bereavement throughout the holidays, which is often the toughest time of year no matter how long ago the loss was. A video segment from the Midpensula Chapter of The Compassionate Friends is featured, and the National Candle Lighting event is highlighted. Registered dietician and cookbook author Katie Morford also joins the program to offer tips and recipes for easy and healthy holiday cooking. She penned The Best Lunch Box Ever […]

Candle Lighting Ceremony for the Holidays

Alan Pedersen, Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends, joins Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley during this special holiday edition of the Open to Hope show. Pedersen shares a segment from The Compassionate Friends, where Dr. Heidi Horsley currently serves on their board of directors. This is an organization for anyone who’s lost a sibling, child or grandchild. There’s also a roll-in from a National Candle Lighting event, which is a fantastic way for many grievers to celebrate the life of a loved one who has passed away. “This organization really changed my life,” says Dr. Heidi Horsley. It was at […]

Empowering Bereaved Families

Stacey Redmond joins the Open to Hope show to share her story about losing her son, Tim. He was killed during a stabbing at the Giants ballpark in San Francisco. Dr. Gloria Horsley and Alan Pedersen from The Compassionate Friends also welcome Lew Cox to the show, an advocate from Tacoma, Washington, who lost his daughter, Carmen and is now an expert in victim advocacy. Redmond was quickly engulfed in the stigma of losing a loved one to murder—a situation that makes many people uncomfortable, and ultimately results in the shunning of those who are grieving. Redmond’s son was killed […]

Tips for Handling the Holidays – A webinar from The Compassionate Friends and Open to Hope Foundation

This exclusive webinar focuses on how to deal with the holidays following a loss. It features Drs. Gloria and Heidi Horsley along with Alan Pedersen, Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends. “You don’t walk alone on your journey,” says Dr. Gloria Horsley, and she knows this can be a very challenging time of year. The holidays bring back the memories, although people grieve all the time. There are a lot of reminders about what you’ve lost, and it’s full of bittersweet memories. “All we think about is what we’ve lost,” says Pedersen, at least in the early stage of grieving. […]

How The Compassionate Friends Can Help You

The Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends, Alan Pedersen, talks with Dr. Gloria Horsley about the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) conference in Chicago, Illinois. Both Dr. Gloria Horsley and her daughter, Dr. Heidi Horsley, will be presenting at the conference along with an impressive roster of other experts in the field of loss and grieving. With over 168 different titles of workshops, Pedersen says, “I don’t think there’s a better collection of information in the world” than what can be found at the annual ADEC conferences. If you’ve lost a loved one or are interested in getting […]

How Grief Groups Can Help

Alan Pederson, the Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends, spoke with Dr. David Fajgenbaum about his work with college students and how they handle grief. The two connected at the 2015 Association for Death Education and Counseling conference, which Dr. Fajgenbaum was attending in order to share his research and findings. Losing a loved one at any age is difficult, but having that happen in your college years is especially difficult. Many students are away from home for the first time and many of their current relationships are too new to rely on for support. You’re also supposed to be […]

Webinar: ‘Am I Still a Sibling?’

A special hour-long webinar from the Open to Hope foundation, the Death of a Sibling, features Alicia “Allie” Sims Franklin, LICSW and the big sister of Austin along with Tracy Milne, the big sister of Andrew. Both women lost a sibling and understand there’s a unique kind of lifelong loss that occurs in these situations. Dr. Heidi Horsley of the Open to Hope foundation and the President of The Compassionate Friends Alan Pedersen lead the discussion. Milne is also a member of The Compassionate Friends, serving as the Sibling Representative. Today, Franklin works as a grief counseling specialist, bringing her […]

The Compassionate Friends Conference Offers Support and Love

Alan Pederson, Executive Director of The Compassionate Friends, welcomed experts from around the world at the 2015 Association for Death Education and Counseling Conference. The 2015 theme “Hope Shines Bright…Deep in the Heart” was held in Dallas, Texas at the Hyatt Regency Downtown. Joanne Campbell, co-chair of the 38th annual conference, encouraged everyone to attend the event held July 10-12 in downtown Dallas. Pederson and Campbell worked closely together to bring an informative, entertaining and welcoming conference to Texas. Pederson notes, “There’s going to be keynote speakers: Kay Warren, Christopher Jones, Gary Mandel…we have 120+ workshops.” Niche workshops and breakout […]

Resilience After Death of a Daughter

Life did not prepare me for August 15, 2001. In one moment on a very ordinary day, the world as I knew it inexplicably changed. I answered the phone to the panicked voice of a friend telling me that my 18-year-old and only daughter Ashley had been killed in an automobile accident. Little did I know that this one single moment in time would become the demarcation point in my life. Time just stopped, I felt frozen and in disbelief, I was paralyzed and in shock. Somehow I stumbled through the fog and within a few days of Ashley’s death, […]

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